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26 July, a day of celebration for the French!


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Came across this site which shows that up to 26 July, the French are working just to pay their taxes/charges. We all know these are high. As I also read the page, their average wage is listed at over 53,000 per annum.

"Le salarié moyen français est en théorie un des mieux payés (53 647 €), mais il est aussi particulièrement fiscalisé (30 371 €). À elles seules, les charges sociales (26 583 €) représentent plus que son pouvoir d’achat (23 276 €), ce qui constitue le record de l’Union européenne."

Either most of my neigbours are much better off than I thought (couple working pulling in over 100,000 per year!) or there are just a few very, very, very well paid people in France bumping up the average.

Link to full Institute économique page

http://www.institutmolinari.org/en-2013-le-salarie-moyen-francais,1578.html
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I read in Le Figaro the other day that 'functionaires' will be getting a pay rise which they say is long overdue. Apparently 47% of the workforce are now functionaires, one wonders why electricity is going up as are taxes. I know a few French who are rich, they don't appear rich and their wealth is mainly in property due to deaths etc and the French hereditary laws which they rent out, probably on the black, and retire on the income.
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[quote user="Mr Ceour de Lion II"]This is one reason why I do not like socialism.

If you earn your money, you should have the right to get to keep most of it.

I understand that there has to be an element of social security, but not that much.
[/quote]

Well a prime example is healthcare, you couldn't get private French and UK healthcare for the amount you pay in tax etc so it represents reasonable value for money. One reason why the insurance industry paid so much money in the US to stop Obama from introducing the same level of social healthcare as other leading western countries, they would loose a shed load of money. Even I who is not a great fan of the NHS got very annoyed with some of the out and out lies told in the American press (paid for by the insurance companies) when he tried to get the first version of his bill through.

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[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="Mr Ceour de Lion II"]This is one reason why I do not like socialism.

If you earn your money, you should have the right to get to keep most of it.

I understand that there has to be an element of social security, but not that much.

[/quote]

Well a prime example is healthcare, you couldn't get private French and UK healthcare for the amount you pay in tax etc so it represents reasonable value for money. One reason why the insurance industry paid so much money in the US to stop Obama from introducing the same level of social healthcare as other leading western countries, they would loose a shed load of money. Even I who is not a great fan of the NHS got very annoyed with some of the out and out lies told in the American press (paid for by the insurance companies) when he tried to get the first version of his bill through.

[/quote]Q, not sure that is completely true. Both the tax you pay and the cost of private health insurance depend on many factors such as salary, age, health record etc. However my tax payments cover many other things other than health care so any comparisons are difficult to quantify. The NHS does provide an excellent baseline service even if reforms are needed to make it even better.

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[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="Mr Ceour de Lion II"]This is one reason why I do not like socialism.

If you earn your money, you should have the right to get to keep most of it.

I understand that there has to be an element of social security, but not that much.

[/quote]

Well a prime example is healthcare, you couldn't get private French and UK healthcare for the amount you pay in tax etc so it represents reasonable value for money. One reason why the insurance industry paid so much money in the US to stop Obama from introducing the same level of social healthcare as other leading western countries, they would loose a shed load of money. Even I who is not a great fan of the NHS got very annoyed with some of the out and out lies told in the American press (paid for by the insurance companies) when he tried to get the first version of his bill through.

[/quote]

Healthcare is one such thing that should be under a social system. In the US case, no way should it be under the control of the federal government, it should be implemented on a State by State system as it would be much easier to manage. I agree the insurance companies are legalised scam artists. I had a blood test for MMR a couple of years back. They tried to charge me $3,000 for it. I refused to pay that much. No way would 30 minutes work cost that much.

As for Obamacare, no one really knows what it is and how it will help (if at all).

But in France, there is so much more money being taken in tax that accounts for more than just healthcare.

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"But in France, there is so much more money being taken in tax that accounts for more than just healthcare."

Took our youngest to visit the Physics department at Caen. Had an interesting chat with the Prof in charge. As I understand it, there is no PIF/PPP in France. All the research is paid for by the Government, there is no ¨private money" at all. That plus the "low cost" of their University education system must also make a big hole in tax/charges take. Our youngest wants another 11 years education out of the system, so overall I think we will come out on top!

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